Daily News from New York, New York • 292

DAI Of 5 (WpJ News Bureau (516) 237-5494 Fax (516) 222-0545 'mJt Home Delivery 1-80O692-NEWS odddgO fiw MONDAY, SEPT. 8 GLEN COVE ESI CLASSES RESUME Open to all over age 18, English as a Second Language classes resume at Glen Cove Public Library, 4 Glen Cove Ave. Classes will be held Monday, Wednesday: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday. p.m.

to 9 p.m. (516) 676-2130. HICKSVILLE TALL ClUB Monthly meeting begins at 8 p.m. at Jolly Swagman Inn at the comer of Divison and West Nicholai Ave. $5.

(516) 269-3850 or (516)3550721. OCEANSIDE FILM "Sling Blade." Showtime is 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Ocean-side Library, 30 Davison Ave. (516) 766-2360.

Director, writer Billy Bob Thornton stars in a dramatic story of a mildly retarded man. z'Y A 1 COMA RECOVERY A group rap session begins at 8 p.m. at South sau Communities Hospital, Conference Room 3, at 2445 Oceanside lH Road. (516) 763-3980. DIABETES SUPPORT GROUP MEETING South Nassau Communities HosV pital.

Conference Room 2, at 2445 Oceanside Road, at 8:15 p.m. (516jL; 763-3980. TUESDAY, SEPT. 9 "Tma NORTH BABYLON BARBERSHOP HARMONY SINGING Every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10-30 p.m.

at Babylon Town Hall Annex, Phelps Lane. (516) 234-9404, or (516) 277-7472. OCEANSIDE PEDIATRIC ASTHMA SUPPORT GROUP South Nassau Communities Hospital, Albert Conference Room, at 2445 Oceanside Road, at 7:30 p.m. (516)763-3980. STROKE CLUB MEETING South Nassau Communities Hospital, Conference Room 3, at 2445 Oceanside Road, at 8:15 p.m.

(516) 763-3980. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10 EAST HILLS JCC CENTER GALLERY The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center Gallery presents (Sept 10 to Oct 23), "Visions Then and Now," works by Irwin Perton. A lifetime of work in mixed-media. Closed Saturdays, 300 Forest Drive.

(516) 484-1545. JCC CENTER GALLERY The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center Gallery presents (Sept. 10 Oct. 25) "Wrapping in Wholeness," works by Ellen Wertheim. Torah mantels, taillitot chuppot, mixed-media paint NEWS By DEBBIE TUMA Special to The News New Yorkers next spring will get an alternative to battling Long Island Expressway traffic to weekend on the East End.

Beginning in May, they can ferry in style down the Long Island Sound to Greenport In just over three hours, and for $43 round-trip, they can see lighthouses, bridges, Nassau's Gold Coast mansions, quaint East End harbors and even a sunset The high-speed ferries cruise at 35 knots, or 40 mph, during the 90-mile trip from E. 34th St in Manhattan to Greenport. Passengers will board one of two identical 130-foot aluminum catamarans, with plush seats, snack bar service that includes soda and beer and TV monitors that show a movie each way. The company's two ferries, The Bravest and The Finest, named for New York's fire and police departments, each carry up to 350 people. They will alternate weekend trips departing St George, Staten Island, at 6 p.m.

Fridays, stopping at 34th St on the East River at 6:30 p.m., and arriving in Greenport at 9:30 p.m. The return trip will depart Greenport at 6:30 p.m. Sundays to both New York destinations. "How can you beat this? It's like taking a mini-cruise to the East End and it sure beats sitting in cars, buses and trains," said Greenport Mayor Dave Kapell, who rode the ferry's maiden voyage to Greenport Aug. 15.

His tiny seaport village of 2,500 just completed a three-weekend test run of the New York Fast Ferry Service. "We had an overwhelmingly positive response from the business community, and even the residents," Kapell said. "On Fridays, about 200 people would show up at our docks just to watch the ferry come in. One more run is scheduled for this year from Friday, Sept 26 through Sunday, Sept 28, to bring New Yorkers out for Greenport's annual Maritime Weekend Festival, complete with a parade, clam shucking and chowder contests, a street fair and wooden boats. The idea to run a new weekday commuter service from Staten Island to midtown Manhattan, and to the East End on weekends, originated a year ago.

Kapell was touring 17 historic Long Island Sound maritime communities with a com- ings. Closed Saturdays. 300 Forest HEMPSTEAD Drive. (516) 484-1545. Js.cQmpj led by GOALS: PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL The Office of Women's Services will present a workshop from 10 a.m.

to noon, at 250 Fulton (met zanine). RSVPs for this free program or for further information about the Office of Women's Services, call (516) 572-0910. OCEANSIDE 1 SENIORMOBILE Nassau County agencies offer information on health, housing, taxes, leisure passes, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oceanside Library, Davison Ave.

Free. (516) 766-2360. 4 CAREER COUNSELING WORKSHOP Oceanside Library, 30 Davison j-from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., today, Sept. 17 and Sept 24.

Register by calling (516)766-2360. :1 SEIZURE DISORDER SUPPORT GROUP RAP SESSION Co-sponsored by South Nassau Communities Hospital and the Epilepsy Foundation of Nassau County, this meeting will be held at 7:15 p.m. in the hospital's Conference Room 4. Information: Epilepsy Foundation of Nassau County (516) 794-5500. SING WITH THE OCEANSIDE CHORALE Merle Avenue School, Merle Ave.

and Oceanside Road, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (516) 536-1468 or (516) 764-6067. CANCER SUPPORT GROUP RAP SESSION South Nassau Communities Hospital, 2445 Oceanside Road: Conference Room Sept 24, Conference Room 3. Beginning at 8 p.m., each meeting will be a rap session. (516) 763-3980.

PORT WASHINGTON BIRDING Lyman Langdon Audubon Society invites you to join it for a half-day trip: 9:30 a.m. to noon. Meet at Sands Point Preserve parking lot. (516) 759-4035 or (516) 674-3459. THURSDAY, SEPT.

11 OCEANSIDE WELL SPOUSE RAP SESSION The well-spouse support group was formed to give emotional support, raise awareness and serve as an advocate for the spouses and children of the chronically ill. South Nassau Communities Hospital, 2445 Oceanside Road, at 7 p.m. in the hospital's Conference Room 1. (516) 763-3980. TO UST EVENT HERE The Bulletin Board accepts items from registered not-for-profit or-, ganizations.

Send details of the event at least two weeks in advance. Please include neighborhood and daytime phone number and mail to: Bulletin Board, the Daily News, 118-35 Queens Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375. Telephone number (718) 793-3328. Fax NEW WAVE: After test cruises from head of New York Fast Ferry Service, Legislature to coordinate the protection and promotion of waterfront towns and villages.

"We went to places like Port Jefferson, Huntington Harbor, Glen Cove, Cold Spring Harbor, Sag Harbor and Greenport," he said. "When we were in Mamaroneck I met Jack Davis, president of New York Fast Ferry," who was having the two ferries built in a shipyard there. Davis told Kapell his new ferry service, which began in January, would serve the New York working crowd between Staten Island and midtown during the week. Kapell asked if the boats could run out to Sag Harbor and Greenport on the weekends, and Davis said they could. Sag Harbor officials showed little interest, and the ferry rides didn't start in Greenport until last month.

Lillian Vishno, a Sag Harbor village trustee, said her board fir st A A -l Ant TOOO MAISEL the city to Greenport, LI, Jack Davis, looks forward to next season. the end of Long Wharf, an already-crowded pier. "It just didn't seem feasible, since we have trouble controlling the amount of people here now during prime season, and I don't see any need for a ferry in the future," she said. Davis said he is happy the people of Greenport want his service, and he will be negotiating a contract for next season. "We're glad to find a use for these expensive vessels, rather than having them sit at the dock in Staten Island on weekends." Davis added that between the runs to and from Greenport, the ferries will offer daily excursions to Block Island, Shelter Island and Montauk.

Kapell noted that ferries tie in with East End heritage. "Ferries were a common form of travel in the 1900s, between Greenport, Boston, Providence, Sag Harbor and Montauk, so this builds a bridge Jttackto our. seafaring (718) 793-2910, Bulletin Board PIH: 1.